Smart Fingers
by RanebowStitches
Summary: "Julie was right. You are handsome." "You've got some smart fingers there, kid." How the face touching scene and the one directly after that should have gone.


I felt the need to fix this movie because the forced hetero relationship was too much for me when it was PERFECTLY set up for Alex and Brad to be together. So, I literally have taken ACTUAL MOVIE SCENES and molded them into how it should have gone.

* * *

"Your father seems nice," Alex commented, still swinging from the rope that was tied to the tree branch in Brad's yard. He reveled in the weightless feeling it gave him, leaning back as far as his grip on the rope would safely let him and floating through the darkness. He heard Brad scoff next to him and the ice in his drink clink against the glass his dad had brought him earlier.

"Yeah, that's not my father," Alex could hear the eye roll. "That's an alien creature that traded bodies with him. Somewhere, out there in the universe, there's a very cranky, three foot tall, green guy looking for a beer," Sarcasm coated his words, but Alex also detected a hint of something like relief. He chuckled before setting one foot down onto the ground softly, bringing the rope to a complete stop. He had wanted to ask Brad something ever since Julie had brought it up, and he knew it'd sound awkward no matter where they were, but within the privacy of Brad's backyard, he felt like it was safe enough. He just hoped Brad wasn't smart enough to figure out his true intentions.

"Hey, uh, Brad?"

"Yeah," Brad turned to look at the other boy as he climbed off the rope swing.

"Would you mind if I, uh, touch your face?" Brad raised his eyebrow at Alex, before realizing that he couldn't see it. His heart skipped a beat, and his grip on his drink tightened. There's no way that Alex could know about the feelings he had for him… right?

"You feeling lonely, Alex?" He quipped back, thankful that his voice didn't waver with the shock and nervousness that ran through his body.

Alex gave a soft laugh and explained, "I just want to know what you look like." He hoped he sounded convincingly nonchalant enough. He heard Brad set his drink down and stand up.

"Okay, just, uh, don't tell anyone about it?" Brad said in the best "no homo" voice he could muster at the moment. He stepped slowly forward towards Alex who was already reaching out for him. One of his hands landed on Brad's shoulder before tracing its way up to his face. The second followed quickly. Brad soaked in the feeling of the other's soft fingers examining his features. They traced his forehead to his eyebrow, over his eyes (which he would have kept closed, but he was entranced by the look of complete concentration on Alex's face), the curve of his nose to his lips (how easy it would have been to stick his tongue out and lick one), and over his cheeks. They fell away much sooner than Brad would have liked.

Alex smiled and said, "Julie was right. You are handsome." His fingers still tingled from where they had traced over Brad's warm skin. While he wished he could be granted the gift of sight, if just for a moment, to actually see Brad's face, he had a good mental drawing of it now. And while he actually had no authority on whether not Brad was or was not considered handsome in society's book (everyone looked the same to him anyway), he quite enjoyed the shape his facial features took. The urge to retrace his finger's steps with his lips flared in the back of his mind, but he shoved it down quickly.

"You got some smart fingers there, kid!" Brad said laughing softly. "But, so, Julie said that?" Of course she did. She was enamored with him, everyone could see it. Well, not everyone could _see_ it, but everyone knew anyway. At least she was spewing praise about him behind his back and not scorn like most people did.

"Well, that, and you have a nice butt," Alex said matter-of-factly, not even thinking for a second that Julie probably wouldn't have wanted him to tell Brad that.

"Well, you're just going to have to take her word for that one," Brad replied quickly, trying to push the thought of Alex's hands roaming elsewhere on his body out of his head. He was, at that moment, actually grateful that Alex was blind because he was pretty sure his whole face had gone red in a blush. "Good?"

"Yeah, good."

...

As the two came to the end of their run, Brad gradually slowed his pace and felt Alex copy him. He trailed his hand along the other's arm as he moved in front of him in order to wordlessly tell him that he was now on his other side, before sitting down in the grass, panting slightly. Alex grinned through his own pants and said, "That was good. I like running that final kick, you know? Straight ahead, even ground." He plopped down in the grass next to Brad. "Almost full speed."

"What do you mean almost?" Brad scoffed playfully, grinning at the sight of the sarcastic smirk on Alex's face. He really did have an overactive sarcasm gland.

"Almost." Two could play at that game.

"You know," He started, fake enthusiasm dripping from his tone. "You're getting pretty good at this. Pretty soon you could probably do the whole thing by yourself." He swung his arm out to gesture in the direction they just came from and shared a laugh with his friend. He thought about it for a minute though, trying to picture Alex by himself, running through the woods with nothing (nobody) holding him back. That boy would fly.

He was still thinking when Alex suddenly asked, "Do you have a girlfriend?"

"What?" He answered, more out of confusion and unpreparedness than anything. Alex shook his head quickly, and tried retracting his words.

"I'm sorry, it probably wasn't my business." What was he doing springing this on Brad so suddenly. The plan in his head seemed so good just a few minutes ago and now he was mentally hitting himself.

"No, it's ok," Brad assured, and Alex visibly relaxed. "No, I don't have a girlfriend."

"Oh…" Alex replied, relief washing over him, only to be pushed to the side by nervousness a millisecond later. He licked his suddenly dry lips and plucked at the grass that was growing by his knee. Well, it was now or never. "Do you have a boyfriend?" He heard Brad inhale sharply and shift around on the grass.

A beat of tension filled time passed before Brad replied with a hint of curiosity in his voice, "No, I don't have a boyfriend either." Alex nodded, tapping his fingers against his knee, relieved and yet still so antsy. The butterflies in his stomach did not help his situation at all. The tension still hung in the air, and he didn't know what to say to make it go away, but luckily Brad spoke first. "Do _you_ have a girlfriend… or boyfriend?"

"Nope!" Alex replied a little too quickly, letting out a forced laugh. He heard Brad shift in the grass again. Had the other just moved closer or was he heating up from embarrassment?

"So, Julie is…?"

"Just a close friend!" Ok, Brad was definitely closer. Alex could feel his presence leaning towards him.

"So, _I_ am…?" He said quietly, hopefully, and he was close enough that Alex could hear the slight twinge of fear tacked on at the end. His heart and breathing sped up as he realized what Brad was asking, but his mouth had gone dry and he could not articulate his answer.

"You… are…?" He croaked out, tilting his head and furrowing his eyebrows in mock confusion. He could feel the heat radiating off his face, but he could also feel it coming from Brad.

"Choose wisely. This may be a one-time offer," Alex could hear the smug smile Brad had on his face, and suddenly he felt calm wash over him. Whether it was the fact that Brad obviously had feelings towards him and was asking him to be his boyfriend (in this weird, slightly confusing kind of way), or whether it was the fact that he could still be a sarcastic and smug dork while shamelessly flirting with him, or some combination of the both, Alex knew that there was no reason to be nervous around Brad. He was his best friend, soon to be more.

Alex grinned and reached out to where Brad's voice had last floated from, his hand landing ungracefully in the middle of Brad's face. Brad flinched for a moment, thinking that Alex was pushing him away, but before he could back up both of Alex's hands were cupping his face and pulling him forward. Their noses bumped softly while Alex shifted his right hand to trace over Brad's lips. It was a weird gesture to Brad, but when Alex leaned the rest of the way in and sealed their mouths together perfectly, Brad realized he had done it so that he wouldn't miss.

They broke a moment later, after a few more consecutive quick kisses, both boys now with their hands on each other's faces. Brad rested his forehead against Alex's and sighed happily, "I guess we each have boyfriends now?" Alex laughed and leaned back, taking Brad's hands into his own.

"I guess so," He answered. He ran his thumbs in circles over Brad's hands as he held them. A moment passed in blissed silence before Brad suddenly snorted. "What?" Alex tilted his head.

"Julie's going to freak when she finds out," Brad said, amusement on his voice. Alex paused for a moment, letting his words sink in, before a grin spread over his face and giggles rose from his chest. Brad caught them too and the duo sat there, in the middle of the field, giggling for a good couple of minutes.

"Does this mean I'm allowed to decide for myself whether or not you have a nice butt?" Alex asked, finally coming down from his giggle fit. Brad smirked and leaned in to give him a quick kiss.

"Not until you win first place at the meet coming up."

"Well, then we better start training some more! Which reminds me, I got you something…"

* * *

And thus Alex would pull out the shoes, and Brad would still probably get pissed, and then Alex would tell Julie what happened, and she'd freak but also help Alex and assure him that Brad would would come to his senses etc etc the rest of the movie is exactly the same until the big meet and Julie would not kiss brad at his house but she'd still go get him and bring him to the meet and at the VERY VERY END they'd kiss and Alex would grab Brad's butt and they'd splash off into the random lake.

THE END.


End file.
